Carry on Cabby

Made in the days when Cortenas were considered exotic; this is an unusual 'Carry On' in that the humour is gentler (Sid James - fresh from a TV series called 'Taxi' - isn't yet the coarse lecher he later became) and the woman more nuanced, possibly because it started life as a non-'Carry On'.

Written under the title 'Call Me a Cab' by Morecombe & Wise's old writers Sid Green & Dick Hills, this was one of the last 'Carry On's in black & white, the last to feature Cyril Chamberlain, Esma Cannon, and the lovely Liz Fraser (unless you count the unspeakable 'Carry On Behind', which I don't), the first to feature Jim Dale and Amanda Barrie and be scored by Eric Rogers. And one of the VERY few without Kenneth Williams.

Cabby is generally regarded as one of the best of the series and it was to be said it is a very good film. Hattie Jacques has probably her finest part and her and Sid James always made a good team. That said even though this was Talbot Rothwell's first Carry on script and there are some bawdy lines and very funny situations it still has that Norman Hudis feel to it. Now i was never a fan of the Hudis Carry on's i feel they were no different to any other harmless stiff upper lip British comedy film's that were being made at the time despite their somewhat high reputation. This was a decent warm up for Rothwell and after a couple of silly follow ups Jack and Spying he really hit home with the hilarious and brilliant Cleo (the first great Carry on film). Cabby is harmless fun with great support from Hawtrey and Connor, but much better was to come.

This is a really heart warming flick with a cracking story. Sure, the gags are there, but they are not the forefront of the film.

James and Jacques have rarely been in finer form, and manage to construct some very poignant scenes. Amanda Barrie is absolutely drop dead gorgeous.

Perhaps most overlooked, this film has one of the loveliest scores of all the Carry Ons, and makes use of some lovely arrangements.

Definitely a must see if you like the genre.

I really liked this Carry On entry. This is considered as Hattie Jaques's personal favourite of the Carry Ons and it isn't hard to see why. She seems to be having a ball as the neglected wife of cab driver Charlie Hawkins, who is played to perfection by the one and only Sidney James. Carry On Cabby has a very irreverent screenplay, that will leave you in tears of laughter, but what made this particular Carry On stand out for me was that the plot was one of the strongest plot lines in Carry On history. As for the other performances, Jim Dale is hilarious in a small role, and Kenneth Connor is his usual charming self. Charles Hawtrey is solid in his role too. The photography was skillfully done, and the music score was great. My only complaints are its length and its rather slow beginning, other than that, pretty darn good if you ask me. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Carry on Cabby is quite good, there are definite strengths to the production. It's nice to see Sid James and Hattie Jacques as a wife and husband and we get Kenneth Connor, Liz Fraser and Charles Hawtrey but no Kenneth Williams this time round which was a shame but still had a strong cast.

The plot's about the women setting up a rival cabby group to the men, it's got a cool girl power message and it's one of the only Carry on films that has a definite start, middle and end instead of just sketch type things. I feel like it could have had some funnier moments but it was strong.

7/10: Good